Monday, October 18, 2010

College Radio Goings-On at the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon

The annual CMJ Music Marathon is in New York City this week, with all of the affiliated panels, shows, films, and for the first time a separate gaming seminar. I won't be in attendance this year (but if you want to see highlights of the 2009 and 2008 festivals, take a look at my extensive recaps), but am excited to see that college radio is still a vital part of the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon.

On Radio Survivor I outlined some of the college radio stations who have been nominated for College Radio Awards. If you're attending CMJ, make sure to cast your vote for your favorite stations. Winners will be announced at CMJ's College Day, taking place this Thursday, October 21st. Other college radio events include a College Radio Mixer on Tuesday, October 19 from 4-6pm and mentor sessions for college radio DJs on Friday, October 22.

I'm also pleased to see that a few college radio stations, KXSC (University of Southern California), KVRX (University of Texas, Austin), and CHUO (University of Ottawa), have teamed up to co-present an unofficial (and free) CMJ showcase "Manifest Airwaves" on Friday, October 22 from noon to 7pm at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn.

I spoke with a few of the organizers about Manifest Airwaves in order to learn more about this awesome college radio collaboration. According to CHUO's Music Director Joni Sadler, she was initially contacted by KXSC's Maura Klosterman over the summer. She said, "It initially started out as the idea to just throw a show/party for bands from our areas, and it grew from there when other stations got involved as well."

Each station is helping to book bands, promote the event, and they are all sharing in the costs. KVRX is also planning to film the event. According to KVRX Promotions Director Brittany Campbell, "We plan on filming most of the performances for our YouTube page which has other KVRX performances, interviews, and DJ trivia." Brittany mentioned that KVRX will also be setting up a photo shoot at the event for attendees.

According to Joni and Brittany, all of the stations have benefited from this collaboration. Joni said, "We have a diverse little group of stations working together for this, so that's made for some good brainstorming and diversity with the artists involved." Brittany added, "I think it's a great opportunity for future shows, events and long-lasting relationships for student radio stations. We have to stick together."

Since the participating stations are in California, Texas and Ottawa, Canada, much of the organizing has happened over email. A few staff members have met in person previously, which, according to Joni, "I've met Maura [KXSC] and Nichole from KVRX in person. Our stations definitely have some similarities, and having met them face-to-face before made it easy to know that we'd work well together on this kind of project."

The participating stations aren't necessarily bringing big crews to CMJ, with Joni being the sole CHUO attendee. Joni explained that she pays her own way and that, "From what I know, CHUO has never officially 'sent' anyone to CMJ. It's always awesome to get to hang with friends from all over the US and Canada that you only get to see once a year, and it's a great opportunity to share ideas with people from other campus and community stations. I find the panel discussions valuable, but even casual discussions of how different stations function has been helpful for me in the past. Plus, the WFMU record fair is going on during CMJ - and that ALWAYS totally rules." Brittany said that 3 folks from KVRX would be in attendance and said, "We are looking forward to the big city, east coast music, meeting all walks of life, and being able to stay at a bar till 4am. I am personally not looking forward to the cold... it's 86 in Austin and 54 in NYC."

Sounds like a great time! Sorry to miss all of the festivities, but I am hoping to get the full report from those of you who attend.